Heatwave will put 4p on a loaf, warn Britain's biggest millers

It has scorched gardens in the home counties, melted roads in Plymouth and choked rivers with poisonous algae. Now the heatwave has claimed a new victim. Bakers warned yesterday that the hot weather will force up the price of bread by up to 4p a loaf, after flour manufacturers announced a rise in the cost of flour.

Rank Hovis and ADM Milling, the country's two biggest flour millers, are raising their prices by up to 20% after wheat crops wilted in the extreme July heat. Increasing energy costs were also blamed for the price rise.

Alexander Waugh, director general of Nabim, the trade association for UK flour millers, said the increase was far larger than would normally be expected, and warned that the extra costs would inevitably be passed on to consumers.

"It is unusual to see such a large rise but there have been big hikes in the costs of energy and wheat," he said. "Year-on-year energy prices have risen by 60% and wheat yields have been affected by the hot weather - not only in Britain but also in France and Germany."

The National Association of Master Bakers, which represents around 1,000 small bakeries, expects bread prices to go up by between 2p and 4p a loaf. Its chief executive, Gill Brooks, said: "The small craft baker will be hit particularly hard."

Gordon Polson, director of the Federation of Bakers, told The Grocer trade magazine that bakers were also being directly affected by rising fuel costs.